Fluff
by Emerald Embers
Summary: A quick little nugget about friendship and pillows. Mild ZackxCloud, mild ZackxAeris.


Fluff  
  


by Emerald Embers

Rated PG for mild bad language, mild yaoi, and mild het.

Squareenix ownz u, and Final Fantasy 7. I do not. Alas. Nor do I own any money, and I'm decidedly not going to own any more money from the production of this fic.

  


"Guh!" Zack exclaimed in a statement of undescribable bliss at the realisation his pillows were not only on his bed, but they were *warm* (as opposed to lying on the floor by the alarm clock after yet another violent assault in exchange for the long-traumatised object mistakenly attempting to wake him in the mornings). 

Warm, fluffy pillows.

Not even damp warm or lukewarm or questionable smell warm, they were *toasty-dry* warm pillows.

"Mmmmgah," He continued in a similar vein to his first statement, before lifting his head a fraction out of the pillows and glancing up at the owner of the footsteps entering his room, not searching for his knife because he knew full well the sound of those rather small but chunky boots walking determinedly across his disturbingly cheap Shinra-issue carpet. Why his friend usually walked as if walking was an incredible effort, he didn't know, but he was reasonably sure by now it wasn't an actual medical condition. The kid was as regular as regular could get. Well, physically. In a manner of speaking.

Thankfully, Zack's brain decided to speak up with a sensible suggestion. _Zack, dear boy who possesses me. Assessing Cloud's fitness level whilst drunk is _never_ a good idea. You know I'm right._

Deciding not to argue or flirt with his brain for the time being, Zack decided to try and thank his blond buddy. Raising a hand loosely he managed, but pointing in the direction of the feet-owner was a little beyond him in his current state. "Angel," he managed in a fit of eloquence, before burying his head back into the pillow. Cloud grinned and, frighteningly enough, giggled before walking over and pulling Zack's blankets up from their crumpled state at the bottom of the bed and over the dark-haired boy. Normally he might have helped Zack take off his boots, but he had the feeling that if anything tried to stop Zack from going straight to sleep and staying in said sleep for a few days, it would probably end up sacrificed to a few particularly vicious Gods of pain. So, instead of taking his turn to nag at his friend for going out training, drinking, training some more, then drinking seriously, Cloud tightened his nightgown belt and hopped onto the bed, lying down at his friend's side and snuggling up against him. A muffled sound emerged from the pillow that may or may not have been Zack attempting to say 'Angel' again, but the resulting noise was closer to 'Nnnnnnnnnnnn', only a tad more slurred and with a few sybillant sounds that shouldn't have been possible in a series of 'n's. Then again, Zack had a knack for butchering, beating up, rearranging and just in general torturing any language he used into submission.

Cloud decided it would probably be a good idea if he tried to fall asleep as well, being as Zack clearly wasn't in the mood for talking, but he couldn't resist burying his face in the dark-haired boy's neck for a minute before making any attempts to doze off. It occurred to him after a moment that Zack's neck was twisted so unnaturally in its current position that it was a wonder it hadn't broken, and the blond boy very, very gently tugged the pillows down and to one side so Zack's head moved with them into something that looked more within the realms of human possibility. "Silly Zack," Cloud mumbled before resting his own head on the pillows and wondering if Zack would ever notice quite how much he was besotted with him. Not too likely. The dark-haired boy was alarmingly dense at times. Either that, or pretending to be oblivious, which was a much more disturbing and upsetting concept. Cloud sighed, brushed his fingers lightly down Zack's cheek, before clasping his hands half-under his head and going to sleep after a moment's giggle at Zack's very loud snort. Zack wasn't really one for snoring - he was more a 'stay quiet long enough that everyone relaxes, then MAKE A BLOODY DIN' type of sleeper. Worse still, his bloody dins were short and sharp enough that in group rooms very few people ever had a clue that it was Zack who made said dins, leading to plenty of unfounded accusations and more than one all-out brawl.

  


Zack waited a few minutes in the morning before deciding Cloud was actually still asleep, and blinked back his headache as best as possible. A smile twitched in the corner of his lips as he noticed how one of Cloud's thumbs had half-crept into his mouth, the effects of which had ended up in a damp pillow and drool-sticky hair. Painfully, disturbingly cute, really. He sighed and pressed his lips lightly against Cloud's forehead, causing the blond's forehead to crease up in an angry little frown. Yes. Definitely adorable.

Zack raised a hand carefully and brushed his fingers down Cloud's cheek, feeling the skin that oddly enough was most resemblent to Aeris' bra padding in texture. A guilty expression caught his face as he realised which he'd much rather feel again, and he looked across at the letter from his girlfriend that had been lying on the desk, not replied to for a week now.

Pressing a hand to his forehead, Zack released a deep and depressingly hungover breath before glancing back to the blond in his bed and brushing his hands against the shoulder that had valiantly escaped Cloud's nightgown, wondering how long it was since he had fallen in love with his best friend.

"Well, bugger."


End file.
